ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Position in Procter & Gamble Company (The) $PG

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 143,524 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,930 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $22,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 655,209.0% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 76,028,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,832,680,000 after purchasing an additional 76,017,350 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.8% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,644,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,051,930,000 after purchasing an additional 248,792 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 13.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,480,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,660,737,000 after purchasing an additional 2,466,308 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,405,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,966,252,000 after purchasing an additional 583,629 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 6.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 17,293,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,947,146,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,865 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $170.00 target price (down previously from $190.00) on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 target price (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. BNP Paribas reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $177.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $152.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 9,100 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.27, for a total value of $1,431,157.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 27,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,292,684.65. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 8,596 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.27, for a total transaction of $1,351,892.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,221,134.57. This trade represents a 11.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 120,181 shares of company stock worth $18,918,012 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:PG opened at $152.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $149.91 and a 12 month high of $180.43. The company has a market cap of $356.20 billion, a PE ratio of 23.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.06.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.06. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.95% and a return on equity of 32.69%. The business had revenue of $20.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Procter & Gamble has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.830-7.090 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a $1.0568 dividend. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 64.98%.

Procter & Gamble Profile

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.